I had a power breakfast (roti canai with ikan tenggiri & teh c kosong) with some Power Rangers this morning. This is like a bimonthly do with the folks. We exchange info and my purpose is to inform you. Take my word ok, this stuff cannot be made up.

Reconvening of Parliament

Talk is Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah is really gearing up to move a motion of no confidence against the Prime Minister when Parliament reconvenes. Tengku Razaleigh is believed to already have 82 MPs on his side (both BN and PR). And Tengku Razaleigh has the support of Pehin Sri Taib Mahmud of Sarawak. Taib is said to be unhappy with the PM because his list of Sarawak MPs to be appointed to the Cabinet was not given its due consideration. It seems that his list was overruled by one of the "Top 10 Most Powerful" people close to the PM. Ha ha ha! Over in Sabah that Bung guy plus a former Sabah Deputy CM are also up in arms against the PM.

Although Najib did not meet Anwar in Jakarta there are persistent rumours about why Najib, Anwar and Zahid Hamidi (known to be close to Anwar) were both in Indonesia at the same time.

UMNO Elections

Tun Dr Mahathir's latest statement ostensibly against challenging the top posts are motivated partly by Tengku Razaleigh's own bid for the presidency. Dr M does not want Ku Li to be party president. Even if he tries, it is unlikely that Ku Li will succeed anyway. However any such attempt, even if it is partially successful, will embarass the party president Najib Tun Razak. Just like Ku Li's no confidence motion against the PM.

4th Floor boysHere is some other interesting news. The former 4th floor guys are sniffing around the back alley again. Omar Ong is already the PMB (Prime Minister's Brains). Khairy Jamaludin is in the Cabinet. The other ex-fourth floor boys are strategically sprinkled out here and there. In UMNO the PM's team now consists of Jamaludin Jarjis, Khairy Jamaludin, Zahid Hamidi plus the ex-4th floor boys.

Here is something very interesting. Tan Sri Muhyiddin has told people that he will not be contesting anything in UMNO other than safeguarding his own deputy president's post. That maybe so but now there is a probability that Zahid Hamidi may challenge Muhyiddin's spot. And Najib, JJ and Khairy will back him up. If so it is very possible that Zahid Hamidi will unseat Muhyiddin and become the deputy president of UMNO as well as deputy PM. If that happens of course it will be the end of Muhyiddin's career. This will also secure Najib's hold on the party.

The next dep. president of UMNO & DPM?

Muhyiddin must realise that standing still is not a good option. Others may target your 'standing still' position. The consensus view is that Ali Rustam from Malacca has plenty grass roots support in UMNO. The money is on Ali Rustam if he goes for the Deputy President's post as well. Or even for the party president's position. Which is why the guys at the top now are trying to kill him off every chance they get. By the way, Ali Rustam's loss in Malacca recently is also due to internal sabotage from within UMNO. As I said, the knives are out to finish him off. It looks like this coming party election is make or break for Muhyiddin Yassin and Ali Rustam. It may be the end of their careers.

Anwar is a dead issue. His career and influence are over. PAS and DAP dont see much use for him anymore. Like tissue paper (or toilet paper) - to be thrown away after use. Reading some of the inuendos about his health, this may also be literally true.

More corporate missteps on the way - Sime & Felda to merge?

Recall the mysterious merger of Sime Darby, Guthrie and Golden Hope? Until today no one knows why those three companies were merged? We spent decades building up two internationally well known brands Guthrie and Golden Hope and then all that was destroyed instantly. This is what happens when you put people who know jack sh*t about business in charge of business. Now the latest news is that Sime Darby may again relist some of its divisions separately on the Bursa. Isnt that the dumbest thing to do? First you merge. Then now you want to demerge.

Anyway this man benefited a lot from that mysterious Sime Darby merger. His bank made hundreds of millions of Ringgit in merger fees. This is the PM's younger brother.

The lawyers, financial "con"-sultans, the stationery suppliers, the advertising boys all made tons of money from that exercise. Still no one really knows why Sime, Guthrie and Golden Hope were merged.

But hold on to your seats ok. Talk is a Sime Darby and Felda Plantations merger is on the table. The same dunggu who was behind the earlier merger is possibly behind this as well. This is not a clever idea at all. There is no check and balance. Also we are reducing the pool of managerial talent.

And Nazir Razak will likely profit again. In the Sime merger his bank made a few hundred million Ringgit in merger fees alone. This time he may make even more. I asked the Power Ranger "Why would Felda merge with Sime?" No one knows.Losing Felda & PRU 14Here is some arithmetic. UMNO now has 88 Parliamentary seats. 15 of these seats come from UMNO Sabah. The rest ie 73 seats rest in the Peninsula. Of these 73 UMNO seats in the Peninsula, 54 UMNO seats lie in Felda settlements. Only 19 UMNO seats come from other non-Felda and non Sabah areas. In other words UMNO now depends on the poor Sabahans and the 'peneroka Felda' folks. As someone said 'The people who read Utusan Malaysia' (no offense meant bro. Z.)If you merge Felda with Sime Darby and if things dont go as planned, UMNO may lose some Felda seats as well. Better watch out.

The "ad" mystery and the TPPA mystery

There is much mystery over who exactly placed the "ad" in the Star yesterday which potrayed Rosmah as the Most Powerful Woman in Malaysia. The mystery has been somewhat solved. The suspect is believed to be a brand new "Tan Sri" who was maybe overjoyed at his delayed 'Tan Sri' letter. There is another mystery. Malaysia is set to agree to the TPPA with the US. TPPA means Trans Pacific Partnesrhip Agreement. This is a really stupid, really, really dumb agreement which kebanyakan orang Melayu tak faham apa maksud sebenar dan bahaya perjanjian ini. I will blog about this soon.This is the only contemporary issue now in Malaysia where people on both sides of politics fully agree to oppose. Dr Mahathir, OutSyed The Box, the Consumers Associations, the NGOs, the Pakatan Rakyat and just about everyone DOES NOT agree with Malaysia wanting to sign the TPPA with America. So I have been asking around - please tell me who in their right mind would want Malaysia to sign this agreement in the first place? One answer is this woman. She is Rebecca Sta Maria the KSU of the Ministry of International Trade who is tasked with negotiating this agreement. Bad, bad move Rebecca. Very, very bad move.

The other woman who was mentioned is of course this person :

'Power to all my friends..baby power to you and me..'

Apparently the Obamas are coming to visit in October this year. One of the conditions of their visit is that Malaysia agree to the TPPA. A few people, including you know who, are craving for an opportunity to have their pictures taken with the First Lady. Today the mystery was resolved a little bit more. The other person who is pushing hard for Malaysia to sign the TPPA is this guy :

He is presently ambassador to the US with Cabinet rank and is in the inner circle of the Prime Minister. If the TPPA is signed his status will be raised up a little in Washington as well as in KL (among the few).So these are the three or maybe four people in Malaysia who want the TPPA. Most of the other 28 million Malaysians are not in favour of the TPPA. Folks, guess who will prevail? 28 million Malaysians or these few people? Barisan Nasional to be unwound

Our power breakfast was also informed that the PM has asked the guy in the picture - to give him "the most outrageous suggestions" about the future of UMNO, BN etc.

That would be this guy Omar Ong a muallaf brother who comes out with strange ideas. 1 Malaysia, BR1M, KR1M etc. Even that rebranding thing 'I love PM' goes back to him as well (despite what others say). His official designation is "PMB" or "Prime Minister's Brains". So he is the 'PMB in the PMO'. You can see what the Prime Minister has become by following his advice. Just imagine what the PM would be without the PMB?

Anyway talk is he has proposed something called the Barisan Rakyat. The BN will be unwound. No more Barisan Nasional. MCA, Gerakan, MIC, the Sarawak & Sabah parties can find their own way. UMNO will go it alone. UMNO will however take in non-Malays as members. UMNO will become multi racial. Non Malays in UMNO may have conditional membership - like no voting rights. Folks is this a good idea? Let me ask a question to the Chinese readers - given a choice will you join UMNO at all? And will you be willing to become a non voting member of UMNO? (No need to shout lah - I can hear you loud and clear ok).

And what becomes of multi racial power sharing in this country? I think this does not bode too well for the country. By listening to these same stupid advisors the prime minister almost lost the elections. The BN is now down to 133 seats. Even sleepy Badawi did better. And now the PM is at the least popular point in his career. It is unlikely that he will ever recover. And the PM still falls back on the same advisors and 'con'-sultans. Plus Dracula has now been appointed not only in charge of the Bloodbank but also in charge of the blood donors. How low can we go? Just when you thought that they had hit the bottom of the pit, they dig another hole and sink down even further.